Can I Sail Away In 2018?

[zeehag]

the only one can answer your question is you yourself. have fun.
walk a lot of docks, read a lot of magazines.
then go learn reality.
took me from 1990 until 2004 to find my cruiser, took from 2004 to 2008 to convince the owner, a boat virgin, that he could not handle the monster..he knew nothing. at all.... blew up engine, punched the teakwood in fits of temper, destroyed a lot of the boat, thieves took items from boat, then i bought it for 4650usd, or what i got for my ericson 35mII.
so, the permission MAY is bypassed, a s permission is not needed yet for cruising.... but CAN means are you able. only you know that answer.
happy hunting.


ps.... i think you will learn you cannot run from anything as you bring you yourself into the mix wherever you go and whatever you do.
might want to learn how to deal with yourself before you go out into the biiig blue.

[Jim Cate]

Hmmm....

Poster with only a couple of posts, appears with a poorly worded and kinda vague question, then disappears from view...

I think we've been trolled!

Jim

[boatman61]

Of course you have..
Something off more import.. anyone heard from MarkJ.. last I heard he was doing a Transat with the idea of maybe wintering in the UK..
Heard nothing since..!!!
Anyone..???

[JPA Cate]

Last I heard, he was in the Azores. I bet he's playing "Shengen tag."

A.

[s/v Moondancer]

Mark was on Sailnet.com last week!

[Padastty]

I’ve read every reply, a couple of times each, thanks for taking the time to share your personal insights and thoughts. Sorry for the delay in chiming in again, too busy..blah, blah.

Let me provide a bit more details and fill in some of the blanks or misconceptions.

No we don’t have any experience. I come from the camp of anything can be learned and asking questions of those that have gone before is part of the learning processes. This attitude collectively includes don’t let fear of failure or the unknown keep you from starting and stretch yourself to live life to the fullest and experience all you can. Yet I’m a planner.

Several of you questioned my first mate, wife’s, commitment…she is all in and has the same attitudes of life. Yes she is more tepid on starting elsewhere other than the Carib. But that is an area we are most familiar and weaving a bit of intangible comfort into a new adventure isn’t without some value.

We are looking for a CAT priced 250-350k. Specifically, we like the FP Orana Maestro. The need to be liquid, as in selling everything first, is my belief that once I find what we want I can’t leave the seller hanging out until I can sell everything. No interest in going the loan route.

The idea of relocating to the Virgin Islands is a desire to be near the largest inventory of potential purchases; the carib in general, and not deal with cost, time and logistics of doing this from Atlanta (Georgia, USA).

I mentioned chartering. What I was thinking is putting a new boat into a “Moorings”, or similar fleet. As I indicated this is just a thought to address my concern that the used market is not in my favor now, may take several years to recover…so why not go the charting route; get the 12 weeks or so a year to sail; gets us on the water and builds experience, continue to build the business valuation, and then in 5 years (3 maybe) cut the lines and sail away.

In general my greatest concern about just leaving now is being on the wrong side of the boat market. If we take the leap to liquidate I don’t want to be cooling my heels for a couple of years.

[stormalong]

Your own statement: "No we don’t have any experience" says it all. Selling out and buying a boat when you don't know what you are getting into is risky. You need some kind of sailing experience. Chartering, crewing on other peoples boats, buying a smaller boat and learning about sailing, maintenance, etc.

There is a steep learning curve in the beginning and you need to do some of that BEFORE making an extreme lifestyle change.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Of course you have..
Something off more import.. anyone heard from MarkJ.. last I heard he was doing a Transat with the idea of maybe wintering in the UK..
Heard nothing since..!!!
Anyone..???

markj is markj having a spontaneous good time. he drove a brit canal barge for fireworks and didnt wreck..seems he is doing good. he posted a video of him driving that barge.. almost looked sober, for a ozzie....
i think the cold may have frozen him a tad.
<3

to original poster---- other peoples boats is a great way to start your learning of many things experience.... do many. have fun. be safe in your choices.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "...anything can be learned and asking questions of those that have gone before is part of the learning processes."

You have asked. You have been answered by those on this forum with a LOT of real world cruising experience under their keels. Are you learning :-)?

Quote: "This attitude collectively includes don’t let fear of failure or the unknown keep you from starting..."

As I've always told my students, afloat and ashore, "the worst thing about not knowing something is that you don't even know that you don't know it!" Do you know that you don't know what it involves to skipper a serious cruising vessel on a serious passage?

Quote: "... I can’t leave the seller hanging out until I can sell everything..."

Are you a gambler? Do you frequent Las Vegas — and consistently win more than you lose?

Why the persistent use of the first person singular pronoun? Does your "first mate's" commitment need to be seen in light of that? Would your "first mate's" competence as Jimmy exceed yours as skipper? Might a re-reading of Herman Wouk be apposite at this time?

TP

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Padastty

No we don’t have any experience. I come from the camp of anything can be learned and asking questions of those that have gone before is part of the learning processes. This attitude collectively includes don’t let fear of failure or the unknown keep you from starting and stretch yourself to live life to the fullest and experience all you can. Yet I’m a planner.

There's a difference between being willing to learn and try new things and going in with your eyes shut. People do exactly what you are talking about and you will hear lots about the successful ones but 9 out of 10 quietly cut their losses after a short time. Go a little slower and learn a little before jumping in with both feet. If it's your cup a tea, you will quickly advance. If not, it's a lot easier to extricate yourself.

Several of you questioned my first mate, wife’s, commitment…she is all in and has the same attitudes of life. Yes she is more tepid on starting elsewhere other than the Carib. But that is an area we are most familiar and weaving a bit of intangible comfort into a new adventure isn’t without some value.

I'm still questioning it but that's between the two of you.
Maybe show her this thread and ask her if she really feels the same.

We are looking for a CAT priced 250-350k. Specifically, we like the FP Orana Maestro. The need to be liquid, as in selling everything first, is my belief that once I find what we want I can’t leave the seller hanging out until I can sell everything. No interest in going the loan route.

Something doesn't ad up. If you liquidate and put everything into a boat, how will you cover living expenses? If you have enough for living expenses, you should be able to take that money short term to buy the boat and then liquidate to replenish the living expenses.

The idea of relocating to the Virgin Islands is a desire to be near the largest inventory of potential purchases; the carib in general, and not deal with cost, time and logistics of doing this from Atlanta (Georgia, USA).

Florida is the place with the largest inventory and a lot easier to stay cheap and handle refitting logistics. After Florida I would say the Med but that introduces some international aspects. Not insurmountable but for newbies a concern.

I mentioned chartering. What I was thinking is putting a new boat into a “Moorings”, or similar fleet. As I indicated this is just a thought to address my concern that the used market is not in my favor now, may take several years to recover…so why not go the charting route; get the 12 weeks or so a year to sail; gets us on the water and builds experience, continue to build the business valuation, and then in 5 years (3 maybe) cut the lines and sail away.

Go talk to them but keep pushing them to give you guarantees in writing. They will keep going on about how great you "can"
do but are expert at dodging actually stating it in writing.

If you are buying a BRAND NEW boat and will only use it a few weeks per year, you can offset some of the ongoing costs but don't expect to make any money and a new boat 5yrs old with lots of hard charter use will take a big hit on depreciation plus it won't be set up for long term cruising so you will have some refitting to do.

In general my greatest concern about just leaving now is being on the wrong side of the boat market. If we take the leap to liquidate I don’t want to be cooling my heels for a couple of years.

Leave when you have the knowledge and the finances in place. Trying to time the market is a fools game and in the best of times won't net you a whole lot.

[Padastty2]

“The wife here “
Very confused by all the misconceptions on this thread .. I’m Not clear what you all are reading into that i am Not onboard .. i just don’t choose to
Post on these forums for these exact reasons . The judgement and ugliness .. we are simply looking for feedback on the market post hurricanes..
we were looking for feedback from seasoned sailers , but seem to be judgement , and not the welcoming sailing community we have heard about ..
as far as the comments not prepared financially .. yes we plan on selling our home , and not maintaining a land base.. in addition selling my company .. the $250-350, we would use to purchase a cat.. is a very small percrange of out assets.. remainder would be invested allowing us to
Live well off the interest alone of our portfolio ..

we both plan on taking ASA classes and get fully educated on the boat, sailing and most importantly safety..

no i don’t not plan on
Being sun goodness nor the sandwich maker !

Im Typing on My iPhone , so Please excuse typos errors ..,

[Flextron]

You will struggle to buy a new cat for some time. The Charter fleets will be flexing their buying power to replace damaged boats.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Padastty2

“The wife here “
Very confused by all the misconceptions on this thread .. I’m Not clear what you all are reading into that i am Not onboard .. i just don’t choose to
Post on these forums for these exact reasons . The judgement and ugliness .. we are simply looking for feedback on the market post hurricanes..
we were looking for feedback from seasoned sailers , but seem to be judgement , and not the welcoming sailing community we have heard about ..

as far as the comments not prepared financially .. yes we plan on selling our home , and not maintaining a land base.. in addition selling my company .. the $250-350, we would use to purchase a cat.. is a very small percrange of out assets.. remainder would be invested allowing us to
Live well off the interest alone of our portfolio ..

we both plan on taking ASA classes and get fully educated on the boat, sailing and most importantly safety..

no i don’t not plan on
Being sun goodness nor the sandwich maker !

Im Typing on My iPhone , so Please excuse typos errors ..,

I missed the "sun goodness nor sandwich maker" comment. If any of my comments were misconstrued to imply that, I apologize as that was no the intent.

It's fairly common for one partner in a couple to have the dream of sailing away and they try to drag the other half along (usually but not always the guy). From past experience, it usually turns out poorly when reality hits home. If you just liquidated everything to buy his dream boat, it can get ugly. The comments and phrasing from your husbands earlier comments were very consistent with this scenario...that's why I suggested we hear from you as it's easy for the partner with the dream to come back and say you both want it when it's not really true but if the other partner provides comments, it quickly becomes much more clear what is going on.

So if giving good honest advice is "judgy", I'd rather be called judgy.

Now back to the nuts and bolts based on you latest response:
- As a newbie rushing to try and play the post hurricane market is dangerous game. Very good chance you pick up a boat that has serious underlying damage but they did a bodge job on it to make it look OK to the inexperienced. With or without the hurricane issue, always get a full survey and put it in as a requirement with the option to back out if it doesn't go well. It's far from a guarantee but better than nothing. Even with survey, I would be very nervous as newbies trying to play the hurricane market in a distant location.
- I still don't understand the financial aspects. If you have several times the amount needed to buy the boat, why do you need to liquidate everything in order to buy the boat? Simply buy the boat and then liquidate to replenish the living expense kitty before heading out. (this is another common red flag type comment, posters give only partial information and then ask questions that shouldn't be a problem if they are really prepared financially.)

I think everyone here wishes you well and wants to help but don't expect to people not to warn you if they see red flags.

[daletournier]

Of course you can! You've now made it clear that you have more than enough money to purchase a good boat and sustain a good life cruising. Hurricane or no hurricane, there's plenty of boats for sale, the biggest hurdle is money and you have that.... so what's the problem, start boat shopping, find a good surveyor (this is the hard bit).

Boat shopping is the fun bit,making dreams happen.

It's the road less travelled, always reasons not to, if you screw up and it's ends up not being for you change direction and do something else.

[dwedeking2]

Have you looked into the Florida boat market? I realize this would require you to sail it to the Caribbean but that, to me, would be better than the Med.